Families

A clinical trial is done to learn more about the effectiveness of new treatments or new ways of using current tests and treatments. By doing clinical trials, researchers and doctors can find the best ways to treat someone who is sick or injured. In Canada, up to 70% of the medicines used in children have not been effectively tested in children. This means that there is a lot we don’t know about how medicines work in children. Adding information of the safety of drugs and knowing how well they work is very important to make sure Canadian kids are getting the best care possible. KidsCAN Trialswas formed to help in answering these questions.

Families play an important part in the research process. Many research teams have members of the public as a part of them to inform the team on what matters most to families and to learn from their experiences. This is often termed ‘patient engaged research’. Sometimes this will involve attending team meetings, other times it will be taking part in focus groups or answering questionnaires. Families with healthy kids, as well as kids who have medical conditions, are encouraged to take part in the research process.